techpolicydaily.com

WASHINGTON – Telemarketers beware: Beginning Sept. 1,  “robocalls” are illegal.

A year after the Federal Trade Commission announced rules prohibiting prerecorded commercial telemarketing calls to consumers, it’s about to get serious and start fining violators up to $16,000 per call.

There are plenty exemptions. If the robocaller is delivering purely informational recordings – such as a notification of flight being canceled, for instance, that’s OK. So are calls from companies that consumers have agreed to take calls from (on opt-in agreements and elsewhere) as well as – of course – political campaign calls. See more on the new rule here.

WASHINGTON – Want to know where the government will spend its money when it comes to technology?

A recent memo from Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (aka the keeper of President Obama’s purse strings) to all federal agencies gives some general clues where the White House is wanting and willing to invest in technology in the next fiscal year.

The bottom line: Wherever it can create jobs, better the economy or make people healthier. Click on the memo below to read it yourself.